The project
documenta 12 is currently initiating a dialogue with around 70 magazines, journals and online media from all over the world; a network will be created that aims to explore and discuss topics of current interest and relevance (not only) to documenta 12. This dialogue will be developed along three main themes and questions - “Is Modernity our Antiquity?,” “What is Bare Life?,” and “What is to be done? (Education)” - with particular emphasis being placed on reflecting the interests and specific knowledge of the respective local contexts.

Participating magazines will be invited to publish independent contributions reflecting this dialogue, but also to react to and comment upon the contributions made by other participants, and in this way initiate a multilingual dialogue. As part of the project an online editing platform/content management system will be established in order to allow all participating magazines to access, discuss and exchange their contributions.

All contributions will be published in the digital magazine of documenta 12 from November 2006 onward. A selection will be published in three printed publications (each concentrating on one of the topics outlined above) to be issued in advance of the documenta 12 exhibition in Kassel, Germany. The questions to be addressed in the dialogues relate to fundamental concerns in the realm of contemporary art: What does cultural transfer actually mean? Where is the line drawn between theoretical assumption and aesthetic practice? What do images want? What form do discourses take in the supposed “centres” and the apparently peripheral areas? What changes in thematic emphasis and paradigmatic shifts occur between different artistic disciplines? How, if at all, does the concept of artistic work differ from other kinds of work?

Background and context
One of the central issues of an art exhibition taking place in the context of a globalised world is the question of how to impart specific local knowledge; how to convey images that derive from, but also go beyond, the bounds of a particular location. How is this local knowledge reflected in documenta 12? How does it manifest itself? How does the process of transferral take place? This is the starting-point for the documenta 12 magazines: not just as a transfer medium, but as a form of organisation. At the same time, the creation of the magazine is itself a communication process that not only opens up a number of themes and priorities, it also reveals works.

The participants
The periodicals and editors involved in the documenta 12 magazines project act as a central interface between the realms of art production, art discourse and art criticism. They play a key mediatory role, translating discursive positions into terms that can be understood and utilised by both specialist and wider audiences, including the major audiovisual media. The art magazine is the medium that not only reflects the structure of the relationship between art and theory/art and audience, but also formulates questions of artistic practice and theory. The participants are selected not according to the size and reach of the individual publications but on the basis of the discourses they hold and their specific relevance to the questions described above. The project therefore spans a wide range of different media, from very small publications operating primarily in a narrowly defined language area through to large global media, and includes every conceivable stage in between.

Structure and development process
An editorial team is currently working with local experts and publishers to draw up a map of project partners. Each of the partner media will use at least one of its issues to discuss, develop and explore these topics in greater depth, devoting an article, section or even the entire issue to the subject; a variety of formats may be employed - interviews, essays, reports or accounts - depending on the particular interests of the medium concerned.

These texts and contexts along with the related discussions will be published in the digital magazine of documenta 12 and will be the source material for the three printed documenta 12 magazines. In addition, the documenta 12 magazines itself will be acting as a participating magazine and will commission texts that are considered to be definitive within the context of documenta 12. Each of the three publications will therefore offer an introduction to one of documenta 12’s core themes, in a form that is accessible to both a specialist audience and the interested layman.

The first issue of the documenta 12 magazines will be published in October/November 2006 in a bilingual edition (German/English). The digital magazine will also be available in other world languages such as Russian, Chinese, Spanish, French or Arabic. A print-ondemand system will allow users to select information according to their own interests. The issue here is not the role of discourses in artistic practice, but rather art itself - its media, dialects and transformations in different roles, regions and realities. The project aims to open up channels for new and independent distribution networks, and to encourage flexible forms of trans-local communication. Particular efforts will be made towards achieving the long-term goal of building information networks and databases that are sustainable beyond the scope of documenta 12. The network project also intends to bring together and demonstrate the experience of authors, theorists and artists who are working on the application of contemporary discourses on a local level, and to compare their knowledge with that gained from other situations and contexts. A further key objective is to establish international cooperative relations that will continue to exist beyond the period of the project.

Print-on-demand
In addition to the three printed book-like magazines and the digital magazine, the aim is to offer readers a print-on-the demand solution in order to allow the creation of their own magazines from the available content material. The print-on-demand functionality will enable the user to make an individual selection of articles, assembling them in a PDF format (similar to a shopping cart) and have them printed out in a magazine-like design as required. In this way documenta 12 magazines will present a cartography of the discussions surrounding topics related to the documenta 12: content can be pre-sorted according to specific cultural contexts, partner media or languages. Underlying the online platform is a democratic notion of technology, and the system is based on Open Source software. The developed solution will be freely available and can therefore also be used by other independent media projects.

Collective Editing
One of the most impressive examples of collective editing is without doubt still “Wikipedia”. The documenta 12 magazines project aims to take this development of internetbased technologies a step further and create a new platform for networked magazine projects. The editorial network of around 70 magazines will work in a decentralised manner and be embedded within the respective cultural and journalistic contexts. Using the online editing platform/content management system of the magazines project, content that is compiled on a local level can be discussed by the entire editorial team and published in a range of different languages. Besides texts, the platform offers to provide also image formats as well as audio and video media.

Online Content Management System
The online editing platform/content management system will serve as a multilingual user interface for the editors and translators involved in the project and will allow participants on an internal basis to communicate and discuss with each other via forums and mailing lists, to provide contributions (in the publishing language and in English), and to select contributions from the platform for publication in their own magazines. The content management system will serve as the central location where all texts and their translations will be supplied, stored, and made available to the participating magazines. Participating magazines are free to translate selected contributions into their language(s) of publication, but they are expected to make those translations available to the other participating magazines via the online platform.

Forms of Publication
Contributions will be published in different forms of output and in various possible locations:
a) All contributions and their translations will be made available in the semipublic space of the online editing platform/content management system, which is accessible only by the participating magazines (from Mai 2006 onward);

b) Participating magazines publish contributions in their own medium (from March 2006 onward);

c) Contributions available from the online editing platform can be chosen by the participating magazines, translated (if necessary), and published in their own medium (from March 2006 onward);

d) All contributions will be published in the digital magazine of documenta 12 (first issue: October/November 2006) offering to the reader the possibility not only to read online but to compile contributions and create his/her own individual (also in terms of preferred languages) magazine that can be ordered on a print-on-demand basis;

e) A selection of contributions will be published in the three printed magazines of documenta 12 (first issue: October/November 2006).

Forms of contribution
We would like to encourage contributions in various formats and styles: theoretical texts, essays, reviews, features such as artist’s texts and interventions, audio files, video files, images, etc.

Copyright
The idea and decision to make texts available to all of the participating magazines, i.e., the process of collective publishing, demands a certain policy with regard to copyright. The general basis of the collaboration shall be an agreement that allows use free of charge for the participating magazines for redistribution, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole and with credit to the author and the commissioning magazine. The same goes for the rights of the translators. There are various possibilities for agreements and legal coverage that we’re currently exploring, and we will get back to you with a proposal regarding this topic soon.

Official invitation for the participation of Canal Contemporâneo in the project magazines, sent by documenta on March 17th, 2006.

 

Vienna, 17th of March, 2006

Dear Patricia Kunst Canetti,
Dear editors of Canal Contemporâneo,

Thank you for your interest in the documenta 12 magazines project and thank you for the talks and discussions we had at our meeting in São Paulo while setting up the project’s framework.

With this letter, we would now like to start the process of collaboration officially. Therefore we are delighted to confirm herewith the participation of Canal Contemporâneo in the magazine project of documenta 12.

Over the next two years as part of this project, documenta 12 will initiate a dialogue with around 70 magazines, journals, and online media from all over the world to create a network to explore and discuss topics of current interest and relevance, not only in the framework of documenta 12, focusing on the following three topics: “Is modernity our antiquity?” “What is bare life? (Subjectification),” and “What is to be done? (Education)”. These debates will be compiled and published in a series of three thematic electronic and printed publications, offering a forum for contemporary aesthetic discourse. In turn, the documenta 12 magazines project will also form part of the exhibition in Kassel. As a starting point for the dialogue, participating magazines will publish contributions in their own medium, but they will also be invited to discuss contributions by other participants, thereby initiating a multilingual, cross-cultural dialogue. We would be very pleased if Canal Contemporâneo based on its excellent contributions to contemporary cultural discourse would agree to participate in and collaborate on this challenging project, and we’re very much looking forward to entering the working process with you.

Please find enclosed more detailed information on the project and a brief introduction to the main principles of organizing our collaboration: the structure and function of the collective editing tool and content management system, the various forms of contribution, and the different steps and possibilities of output i.e., publication. We would be very much interested in learning more about your ideas on the project in general and the topics, as well as about possible contributions from and in your magazine etc. and are very much looking forward to entering the dialogue with you. Please don’t hesitate to contact Cordula Daus from the editorial team with whom you’ve already been in contact – with any questions you might have.

Thank you very much for your attention. We would be really pleased about your collaboration and are very much looking forward to it.

Yours sincerely

Georg Schöllhammer
Editor-in-Chief of documenta 12 magazines

Cooperation Principles that regulate the circulation of contributions between the publications associated to the project, received on June 11th, 2006.

Information
Over the next few months, documenta 12 magazines will work together with more than 70 print and on-line periodicals, radio and other media throughout the world. These journals and magazines will discuss the main themes and theoretical discourses behind documenta 12 with particular emphasis being placed on reflecting the interests and specific knowledge of the respective local contexts. As part of the project, an internet platform (i.e.: content management system) for participating magazines will be established to allow all participating magazines to access, share and republish texts, images, audio and video files made available by the participating magazines and editors.

All contributions will be published in the on-line magazine of documenta 12. A selection of these debates will be compiled and published in a series of print publications. This “journal of journals”, so to speak, will represent a forum for contemporary aesthetic discourse. Canal Contemporâneo (São Paulo) has been invited to participate in the documenta 12 magazines project based on its excellent contributions to contemporary cultural discourse. documenta 12 magazines and the Participating Magazine share the mission of deepening co-operation and transnational collaboration. Given the complexity of the project and its high international visibility, the partners see the need to document their agreement on the key principles regarding this joint task.

This document specifies the nature of this co-operation and serves as the jointly agreed basis for collaboration. Participating magazines are kindly asked to sign this form and return it to documenta 12 magazines by post or facsimile transmission by 19 June 2006.

Participation
The Participating Magazine agrees to contribute to the documenta 12 magazines project by commissioning and authoring contributions from writers, artists, photographers or other authors (in the following: authors) with regard to the key themes and theoretical discourses behind documenta 12. These contributions will originally be published in the Participating Magazine. The Participating Magazine is welcome to inform its readership about its participation in the documenta 12 magazines project in an adequate manner (e.g.: editorial, newsletter, mailing, web-site). It is also welcome to do so using the documenta 12 magazines logotype which will be provided by the editorial team upon request.

The following notice shall be published in conjunction with the contribution:

Examples for contributions:
This article [or: essay, photograph, …] is published as [Name of the Magazine]’s contribution to documenta 12 magazines. [Name of the Magazine] has been invited to participate in documenta 12 magazines, a collective editorial project linking worldwide over 70 print and on-line periodicals, as well as other media (www.documenta.de).

This article [or: essay, photograph, …] is published as [Name of the Magazine]’s contribution to documenta 12 magazines, a collective editorial project linking worldwide over 70 print and on-line periodicals, as well as other media (www.documenta.de).

Example for special issues:
Special edition for documenta 12 magazines. [Name of the Magazine] has been invited to participate in documenta 12 magazines, a collective editorial project linking worldwide over 70 print and on-line periodicals, as well as other media (www.documenta.de).

Example for colophon:
[Name of the Magazine] is a contributor to documenta 12 magazines [LOGOTYPE].

Transfer of rights
The Participating Magazine agrees that it will publish contributions only after obtaining the necessary agreements from the authors and/or translators. The rights of use must specify that the contribution can be freely reprinted, republished, translated or made available on-line exclusively by the other participating magazines and on the internet platform of documenta 12 magazines, as well as in the on-line magazine of documenta 12. These rights shall remain exclusive until 31 May 2007.

The Participating Magazine specifically agrees to indemnify documenta 12 for any claims as a result of insufficient clearance of rights with the original author(s). documenta 12 will provide notice to the Participating Magazine promptly should any such claim come to its attention.

The right of first publication of its contributions remains with each Participating Magazine, which is welcome to make its contributions available solely for reading at the internet platform for participating magazines before publication. Any use by other participating magazines of a yet unpublished contribution will have to be negotiated directly with the originally publishing magazine.

Pooled contributions
Based on the mutual understanding regarding the necessity for open exchange, the Participating Magazine will make its contributions available to all the other participating magazines and the internet platform of documenta 12 magazines, as well as to the on-line magazine of documenta 12 in exchange for the right to use the contributions and available translations of all other participating magazines and the internet platform of documenta 12 magazines. To protect the interests of all participants, the contributions will be made available on the internet platform with the following notice:

This contribution can be reprinted and translated by magazines participating in the documenta 12 magazines project. An updated list of participating magazines is available in the project section of this platform. The release is subject to the following conditions:
Full credit and copyright notice has to be given to the original author / translators / photographers or other authors and the originally publishing magazine.
Major edits or the use of long excerpts have to be approved prior to publication by the originally publishing magazine or the author(s).

Use of pooled contributions
If the Participating Magazine reprints and/or translates the contribution of another Participating Magazine, it is agreed that it will give full credit and copyright notice to the originally publishing magazine in this form:

This article [or: contribution, essay, photograph, …] was originally published in [Name of Originally Publishing Magazine (city), no., year, page ref.] © [Name of Originally Publishing Magazine, city, and/or author].

This translation [or edited version, revised edition, …] is published as [Name of the Magazine]’s contribution to documenta 12 magazines. [Name of the Magazine] has been invited to participate in documenta 12 magazines, a collective editorial project linking worldwide over 70 print and on-line periodicals, as well as other media (www.documenta.de).

Please note that translations of the contributions should be made available to the other participating magazines upon completion even if not yet published.

Complimentary copies
Each Participating Magazine shall receive at least five (5) complimentary copies of each edition of the print version of The documenta 12 magazine free of charge. documenta 12 magazines would be pleased to be notified about printed contributions and to receive two (2) complimentary copies of the relevant issue. Please return by post or facsimile transmission.

If a contribution has been republished or translated, it would be desirable to provide the originally publishing magazine with at least one (1) complimentary copy of the relevant issue.

Important information for authors
The author(s) will be informed that all contributions will be published on the internet platform of documenta 12 magazines, as well as in the on-line magazine of documenta 12 and can be used by the other participating magazines. A selection of contributions will be published in three print editions of The documenta 12 magazine, or other publications and media of documenta 12 and its affiliate programs. This selection will be at the discretion of the Artistic Director of documenta 12 and the Director of documenta 12 magazines.

If contributions are to be used for these print publications, a separate agreement on fee and rights will be made between the author and documenta 12. In this case, documenta 12 will credit the Participating Magazine as the original publisher of the contribution.

documenta 12 will decide about the possible use of contributions by 15 May 2007. Until this date the Participating Magazine is asked not to offer the contribution to media which are not participating in documenta 12 magazines and shall inform the authors about this limitation.

Presentation of the project at the documenta 12 exhibition
The totality of the project will be presented in the context of the documenta 12 exhibition in a manner yet to be determined by the Artistic Director of documenta 12 and the Director of documenta 12 magazines. The mode of presentation will be discussed with the participating magazines at a later stage.

We confirm our participation based on the principles laid out above:

Name of Participating Magazine: Canal Contemporâneo

Represented by: Patricia Kunst Canetti

19th June, 2006

Ways to support Canal Contemporâneo’s participation in documenta 12 magazines, published on August 4th, 2006.

 

Collective project, collective support
Use the Rouanet bill in order to support Canal Contemporâneo in documenta 12 magazines

With a minimum of R$500,00 (R$400 from the government and R$100 from you), you can financially support the project Canal Contemporâneo in documenta 12 magazines, through the Rouanet Bill (Bill #8.313 from 12/23/1991).

Do you think the government should invest more in culture?

Since the creation of the Culture Endorsement Bill, the federal government placed on society’s hand the resources of culture, originated from fiscal exemption destined to this mechanism. It’s necessary only to choose a project previously approved by the Rouanet bill and financially support it, and the government will pay back from 30 to 100% of the invested value, depending on the project and the sponsor. That is, since 1991, it’s on the hands of the Brazilian society to destine resources around 700 millions per year in the practice of cultural endorsement.

In these 15 years of sponsored projects, we have seen companies making use of the Culture Endorsement Bill as sponsors, but we rarely see individuals making use of this instrument. Which makes it less efficient and democratic. If we had a larger number of sponsors, we would have a more diversified result, which would serve the country as a kind of cultural referendum and, at the same time, would help us to develop a rare kind of sponsorship in our society.

In its origin, this law also aimed to stimulate the relationship between cultural producers and its appreciators so that, through an income tax deduction, a real interest in directly investing in culture would be generated in our society.

The project elaborated by Canal Contemporâneo in order to answer Documenta’s invitation to participate in the documenta 12 magazines, is an ideal situation for changing this scenario in our community. It’s an opportunity to collective stimulate a project of collective participation, which will draw the presence of our community in Documenta’s next edition.

Until next June, when the Documenta exhibition will open, of which the project is part, we will work the theoretical, critical and artistic contributions of the members of Canal Contemporâneo’s digital community, aiming to expand the visibility of Brazilian contemporary thought and of our professionals. At the same time, we will work the net created by this project and the connections between Brazilian professionals and those coming from many other countries also involved in the documenta 12 magazines project.

Given the relevance of this project, we were able to raise a partial support from Petrobras as an addition to the support previously received by Canal. In order to complete our budget, we practice our stance of working the sustainable development of Canal Contemporâneo within our own community and we present the use of the Rouanet bill by individuals as a manner of making this new action by Canal feasible.

Participate and use this bill that is a right we all have!

Canal Contemporâneo in documenta 12 magazines
PRONAC: 06-2749

Goal
To answer documenta’s invitation to participate in the documenta 12 magazines, which will bring together 70 printed and electronic publications from several countries and languages to discuss the 3 main themes of the next edition of Documenta, the largest and most important exhibition of the contemporary art circuit, which happens every 5 years in Kassel, Germany. The 3 themes should be dealt by the publications with emphasis on the specific interests and knowledges of their respective local contexts and will be part of an online database.

The budget of R$ 129.090,00 approved by the Rouanet bill, aims to finance the editorial, technological and administrative productions, as follows:

Editorial – R$ 82.800,00
Reception of materials, selection, edition of texts and images, translation of the contributions and publication in Canal and in the database of documenta 12 magazines.

Technological – R$ 33.000,00
Creation and construction of a specific platform to house contributions and present them at the documenta 12 exhibition.

Administrative – R$ 13.290,00
Management of the project within the standards defined by MinC.

Why to support?
- The project, already partially sponsored by Petrobras with R$ 50.000,00, needs more resources to fully reach its goals.
- By supporting the project through the Rouanet bill, it’s possible to discount part of the total value from the amount owed to the income tax revenue.
- Cultural endorsement is still a new practice in our society and we believe that, by stimulating the participation of individuals associated to our community, we may take an important step towards the expansion of cultural support in Brazil.
- It’s important to stress that the benefits of this bill do not exclude or reduce other kinds of exemptions, discounts and deductions.

Who can participate?
Individuals who must fill the full Income Tax form and companies whose income is taxed on real profits.

What are the kinds of sponsorship?
There are two kinds of investment: donation or sponsorship. Donation is the free and definitive transference of financial resources, goods or services for the accomplishment of cultural projects. In this case, it is forbidden the use of publicity for the dissemination of the activities that are object of the respective cultural project. In the sponsorship, there is a promotional and institutional publicity aim.

How to support?
Individuals
- Only for individuals who fill the full Income Tax form.
- Up to 6% deduction of the tax owed.
- Deductible percentual is of 80% for donations.
- The fiscal benefits of this bill do not exclude or reduce other kinds of exemptions, discounts and deductions enforced by the Tributary Legislation.
- Resources must be deposit in a specific bank account of the project in order to receive the receipt of the project sponsored by fiscal deduction.

With a minimum of R$500,00 (R$400 from the government and R$100 from you), you can financially support the project Canal Contemporâneo in documenta 12 magazines.

Individual’s donation

For instance, if you owe a total of at least R$ 6.700,00 (before subtracting the tax retained with the paycheck throughout the year) you can support the project by donating the minimum value of R$ 500,00. In this case, you will discount 80% of the total, that is R$ 400,00, which is within the limit of 6% deduction that in the case would be R$ 402,00.

Total owed (before subtracting the tax retained with the paycheck throughout the year)
R$ 6.700,00
Allowed Income Tax deduction – 6%
R$ 402,00
Value of donation
R$ 500,00
Deductible value – 80%
R$ 400,00 (within the limit)
Value invested
R$ 100,00

The same logic works for those who have tax to pay or to be refunded. The parcel to be deductible (in the above example, R$ 400) will be subtracted from the tax to be paid or added to the total to be refunded.

Details of the forms of contribution accepted by the project, published on August 11th, 2006.

Forms of contribution
The documenta 12 magazines project proposes the discussion of the 3 main topics of documenta 12, to be held in June 2007, with special emphasis given to the specific reflections and stances of local contexts:

1 - Is Modernity our Antiquity?
2 - What is Bare Life?
3 - What is to be done? (Education)

Contributions in several formats and styles are encouraged: theoretical and artistic texts, essays, reviews, registration of interventions, audio or video documents, images, etc.

Phases of the process
Since we are dealing with a collective process, we divided our participation in two phases.

In a first moment, we will be receiving contributions from the community and hosting them in the blog (www.canalcontemporaneo.art.br/documenta12magazines), which later will turn into a platform specifically created for this project. In this phase, we hope to stimulate the dialogue between the contributions, promoting a space of the maturation of issues and points of view.

The selective criteria for this phase will be the same ones used by Canal when forming our community: the context of Brazilian contemporary art, its circuits and systems, whether established or alternative, peripherycal or adjacent. In this way, Canal Contemporâneo’s evaluation method is based on the level of interest of the work and on the trajectories of professional and entities in relation to this focus.

In the second moment, there will be a selection of the material published in Canal to be sent to the

database of documenta 12 magazines. In this environment, our contributions will get in contact with the material sent by the other 70 participant publications, generating the interchange process between these publications and documenta.

The criteria for this second phase meet diversified interests and needs, such as: alignment with documenta 12’s proposition; level of debate generated by the comments in the blog (reminding that it’s not a matter of quantity but of quality of the answers); resources for translation and archive conversion; agreement of author for the publication of his/her contribution, with the signature of copyright contract as demanded by documenta 12 (this contract is based on the documenta’s Principles of Cooperation).

Also, in this second phase, comes up the second type of participation. Among the best answers we will choose Canal’s representatives to access documenta 12 magazines’ database and select contributions from other participant magazines to be brought to our site.

In principle, as a visibility strategy, we are aiming at the deadlines stipulated by documenta for the publication of its 3 printed magazines dedicated to the topics in discussion, but contributions and exchange of ideas will continue till the exhibition opening in June, 2007.

1 - Is Modernity our Antiquity? – October 15^th, 2006
2 - What is Bare Life? – November 20^th, 2006
3 - What is to be done? (Education) – February 27^th, 2007

As we receive new information about documenta’s deadlines, these will be updated.

Submitting material
- Send your material and/or questions to doc12@canalcontemporaneo.art.br;
- Include in the body of your email all basic information: the chosen theme (1, 2 or 3); title of contribution; name of author or authors; professional activity; city, state and country; phone number and form of contribution;
- Attach texts in doc, rtf or pdf. In case of large texts, include a summary as well.
- jpg images, in RGB, 200 dpis, with 500 pixels at the smallest size
- gif images, with 100 dpis and up to 400 pixels of width, up to 100 Kb;
- flash images, up to 400 pixels of width, up to 1 Mb;
- Videos in the following formats: quicktime (*.mov), mpeg or avi converted to flash format, with up to 1 Mb;
- Audio in Mp3 format.

Copyright
The license to be signed by the authors for the dissemination of the contributions in documenta 12 magazines’ database follows the Principles of Cooperation elaborated by documenta for participant publications.

Canal Return, stipends and/or rewards
All authors that had their contributions published in Canal will receive as symbolic payment a Canal signature until the opening or documenta, on June 16^th, 2007.

Stipends and rewards to be paid to authors who have their contributions published in documenta 12 magazines’ database still depend on the project’s fundraising and ongoing partnerships. According to the raised value and the number of participations published, we will opt for stipend payment to all or rewards to some. Wait for further information.

Project budget, production and support
In order to produce our participation in documenta 12 magazines, Canal Contemporâneo approved a project at Rouanet bill aiming to finance its editorial, technological and administrative productions.

The partial sponsorship of 40% by Petrobras allow us to modestly keep the project, and for this reason we will continue trying to locate new donors and sponsors.

Taking advantage of this collective project, we will experience provoking our community towards the participation of individuals in Rouanet bill’s mechanism. Learn more about values and information at How to support Canal Canal Contemporâneo in documenta 12 magazines.

 

Report on Processual Aesthetics – Processual Editing: Net-working

documenta 12 magazines workshop weeks , documenta 12 magazines , 20 jul 2007 - empyre, canal contemporaneo, zehar, relation to medium and community

This panel looked at how independent publishers - working online as well as offline – use the possibilities of technological and social networks in order to generate content, disseminate it, and actively take on a role within the artistic and creative communities they operate in. Networking becomes strategical for these publishers, as they function as nodes in a larger mediascape. In this respect offline and online networking can hardly be viewed as separate, and editorial practices – as well as their aesthetics - are processual, in the sense that they recognise the dimensions of netculture.

The panellists, respectively Miren Eraso (artistic director Arteleku, ES), Maider Zilbeti (editor-in-chief Zehar, ES), Christina McPhee (moderator empyre, USA), and Patricia Canetti (founder Canal Contemporâneo, BR), each introduced their publishing initiatives and unpacked how networking technology, and networking as a collaborative practice, has played a role in their work.

Miren Eraso started by asking how publishers can approach the relationship between paper and pixel, since technological developments affect the mediation between authors and readers: the nature of the creation and distribution of information has changed profoundly. Not only do publishers serve as a bridge between the transfer of content to their readership, but with the diversification of information and its various platforms, publishing has also become contaminated by artistic practice. Miren then moved on to discuss the Open School, project, an online collaborative platform for educational issues. Central to this initiative is the idea that the transmission of knowledge is based on the liaison of artistic practice with education. The project ,answers to a need in a time where education, as well as art, are overtly pliant to the whims of capitalism. The Open School project wants to reinstate the social value of art and education.

Miren’s colleague Maider then read a paragraph of Goldsmith Professor Irit Rogoff’s, editorial text for the Open School.
The full text of Miren’s and Maider’s presentation was posted earlier on this blog under “Zehar/documenta magazines 12”.

Christina McPhee gave a short historical and conceptual overview of the empyre network. Conceived in 2002 by Sydney-based artist, curator, and director of the Australian Network for Art and Technology Melinda Rackham, empyre wants to be a space that facilitates critical perspectives on contemporary cross-disciplinary issues, practices and events in networked media by inviting guests -key new media artists, curators, theorists, producers and others to participate in thematic discussions.
On a monthly basis selected participants are invited by the moderator to share their thoughts on a specific topic. Empyre thus balances he characteristics of the literary medium with a discussion list. Contributors end up writing a collaborative text, yet they do so in a space that is different from a traditional print writing environment: the online nature of things allows people to traverse the usual codes of writing behaviour as long as they keep within netiquette. In that sense, empyre is very much media-specific, and the text generated with each topic could be viewed as a self-generative aesthetic object. In addition, online-writing has a specific spontaneity, non-linearity and timely rooting (e.g. response to current events), which cannot always be translated into print.

Patricia Canetti shared with us her difficulty in defining what Canal Contemporâneo, is, since it is always transforming itself. However, I do believe she captured very eloquently the mutability and adaptability of an online portal, rooted within a specific Brazilian context. Her opening statement has been posted previously under “Canal Contemporâneo, is it a magazine, a newspaper, a site or what?”
Canal Contemporâneo basically functions as communication and information channel in a vast country, where the arts communities are dispersed, fragmented, and not necessarily inter-connected. Canal started connecting the dots of the Brazilian arts scene, and has played a pivotal role in offering a critical discourse different then the ones found in the newspapers. According to Patricia art critique in the traditional newspapers is qualitatively poor and misinformed, Canal wanted to counter this by responding to the newspaper editorials. Canal has also been at the forefront of critiquing decision-making bodies and their respective policies and plans, and thus forming an active and critical counterweight.